Educational bodies must adapt to newer technologies: President

New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS) Calling for an “inter-disciplinary” approach to answer the requirements of the future, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said leading educational institutions will need to adapt to the changing technologies.

Speaking at the 94th annual convocation of the University of Delhi, the President also said that universities would need to innovate in terms of academic content as well as mechanism of delivery.

“We are entering a world where Artificial Intelligence is changing not just how our society ‘does’ but how it ‘thinks’. We are at the edge of a society of cognitive machines. As such, the challenges and the opportunities before us — and particularly before those who are graduating today — are immense,” President Kovind said.

“Our leading institutions, such as the University of Delhi, will need to adapt as well. They will need to innovate — both in terms of academic content and mechanism of delivery,” he stressed.

The President said traditional barriers between fields that were once regarded as sacrosanct were breaking down.

“New courses and programmes will have to be devised if our education system is to answer the needs of the next 25 or 30 years. Some of these may call for adopting a multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary approach,” he said.

The President also said that the “University of Delhi is in many ways the University of India”.

“Every state and region of our country is represented here,” he added.